The Secret Library
As long as House Vela and after it the Velan Ascendancy have maintained the Library of Pharos, as long exist rumors about a second, Secret Library. Some of those rumors are outright ridiculous, some of them might hide a grain of the truth. Read at your own risk ... The Secret Library is ... The Xenos When the first who would one day become House Vela descended to Haqani, they found the world toxic, harsh and uncaring. Resilient though they created sprawling subterranean cities with lush environments not content to let other settlers have all the vegetation to go around. A society bloomed against the grain of this world and House Vela was formed. Then it was found, The Beast, The Knowing, A creature of terrible size Mistaken for decades possibly centuries as a mountain. It is unknown even to the most knowing of sheikhs was how the bargain was made; somehow, it was deciphered that the creature yearned for knowledge, a pact was made. The pact let House Vela use The Knower (as it came to be called) for its own purposes and the creature would not impede them with its own lethal horrors. The creature had chasms inside of it and spiraling caverns that were initially thought to be unchartable its composure was living rock, having survived what must be countless Eons upon Haqani’s unrelenting toxicity. '''So the elders of House Vela, the Sheikhs and Sheikha’s journeyed to it with knowledge, The Knower itself a bulwark against those who would raid the houses vast information troves. Structures were built within its vast halls, and halls they became with houses and Library shelves and Server banks stretching for miles winding around every corner. Amicability was alive and felt within The Knower as its desire to learn was met in tandem with the Velans. An age of prosperity was born for house Vela and all was good and right in a time of peace, then the Knower grew sick, its rock hide greyed and ooze spilled from its insides. Boulders fell and halls were flooded with black and toxic ichor. 'In a mistake still felt shameful by living sheikhs, they had let the way of communion with The Knower fall out of memory, an assumption the pact would remain; eternal. This is a spot of forgotten knowledge that each Sheikh and Sheikha feels like an open wound. An evacuation was ordered in secrecy, as few even knew The Knowers existence, just of “The Library” as a rumor spoke in quiet tones by those that envied House Vela. 'Through the actions of many tireless elders, not a single page of honored history was lost and with the Unassailable Archive dead a council of all Sheikhs and Sheikhas was convened in the only closed session of the grand forum. Here it was decided that no location was safe enough to keep the knowledge The Knower had once guarded, so it must be destroyed…but not lost. Never again should knowledge be lost, it was declared unanimously. So each Sheikh became a knower unto themselves memorizing dozens and scores of novels, texts, diagrams, charts and so on so that Knowledge couldn’t be forgotten, the originals were destroyed to the last, such a cruel flame not seen before or since, Every member of House Vela wept that day but few truly understood why. Now the library floats among the minds of sheikhs still, each one initiated into the storied history and responsible to uphold honor through memory. The Secret Library is ... An Alien Artifact The Secret Library is a small alien artifact that only the Velan Speaker may use and possess. When the Speaker "speaks with the universe", they consult the mysteries of the artifact for answers and share the knowledge gained with the Royal family. The Secret Library is ... Haqani's Core Deep in the core of Haqani is an enormous structure embedded deep into the core itself, almost a conversion of the planet's core. This structure, The Secret Library was built by the earliest colonists as both an atmospheric control system, preceptor archive, and military command center. Made of enormous concentric rings spinning to simulate the movement of the core it supplants etched with murals of era’s long past. 'Today the secret libraries rings are still, mostly shifting in slow lethargic motions, the patina of time fading the murals into distant memories. Guarded by the most elite Immortals taken directly from those already veterans of the Velan Imperial guard, It houses the secret information and histories not fit for public eyes or even the majority of the grand forum. This includes information that needs to be stored offline on paper to records of major secrets and assassinations. The Secret library is also the only centralized repository of secret data on Haqani containing listings of black sites, top-secret files from the spiral concord, and complete access to the Haqani security and monitoring systems. The archives themselves stretch for miles beyond vision. Scrolls, encrypted datapads and files stretch across shelves as Sheikh’s who were veterans of technology and spycraft work to maintain them . There is no directory or centralized categorization system, Sheikhs spend years memorizing the layouts and locations of the library being taught by older more wise librarians. This works both as a deterrent against any intruders who might find their way into the core and to keep the mentoring spirit of sheikhood alive. Some sections of the library have been hermetically sealed since emergency systems activated during the scream and a full map has never been reproduced. ''''Since the scream, the secret library has become the de facto headquarters of House Vela’s and then The Velan Ascendancy’s information brokering business under the command of The Conclave. Here is where transactions and the weight of secrets and their worth can be measured. The existence of the library is highly guarded state secret and one of the few reasons a kill order will be given on a member of House Vela. Very few are permitted direct access to the library, The Royal Family, The Raja and Rani, as well as the entire Sheikhood. With the dawn of the ascendancy this has seen some changes with the admission of the Archon taking the place of the Raja and Rani. Limited access is given to members of the Conclave, High Merit Musir and the Adhya of the Musaeum of Pharos. Every person is given regular security check-ups including physiological measurements to make sure that biospisons cannot successfully impersonate anyone and gain entry. There are a few individuals that know of the existence of the secret library but are not permitted access and are from every title and path of Velan life. The Secret Library is ... On a Hidden Planet From time to time certain Musir and Khutat vanish without anyone being able to really tell where they went. The Library of Pharos lists them as being on an "exploration mission." But everyone knows that Velans don't really explore the sector anymore. The truth is that these Velans are spending time maintaining the Secret Library, which is hidden away on a planet, that can only be found by Velan Sheikhs. The drive route to this hidden planet is only taught verbally and there are no records whatsoever in any LINES maps that it exists. The Secret Library is ... In the Minds of the People The rigorous schooling that the Velan population, both the serfs and the nobles, endure for many years has a purpose besides the training of complex navigational skills. All Velans have a small piece of practically imperceptible technology embedded in their neural cortex linking them in a complex network; this, combined with a small and powerful central coordination hub in the center of the Library of Pharos, forms a subconcious information storage facility. The Secret Library is secretly using the brain power of the populace to decentralize the info and ensure that no one person has more than a word or two stored in their heads at once. The Secret Library is ... Located in Meta-Dimensional Drive Space Ever since House Vela has been mapping and traveling through space there has always been a myth of a "place" that exists only while in drive space. The place lies outside the conventional sector and is only accessible through a masterful spike-drill with the knowledge and psionic ability to get there. The Area that was called the Secret Library is an endless expanse of rooms being built and deconstructed based on the person currently there at the time, forming itself to the MES afflicted person's desires. Thus only those with psionic ability or those being escorted by one were never able to enter this archive of knowledge. After the scream this place was lost and all that is left is whispers and myths on what was there. The Secret Library is ... The Order of Sheikhs After 40 years of service a Velan is usually inducted into the Order of Sheikhs. But not everyone is granted this honor, for it comes with a price only few are willing to pay. Upon induction parts of a Sheikh's brain are replaced by storage units, a transmitter directly embedded in the cerebral cortex. All of these units together form the Secret Library, connecting and syncing whenever two Sheikhs meet. The Secret Library is ... A Lie Hidden Secrets * The Library is said to have pieces from each of the original constellation ships. * The Library housed physical copies or originals of every major or important document in the history of the sector - either recorded by House Vela itself or "procured" by Velan agents. * The body of Eratesh I. * The original physical treaty that formed the Empire is housed here - signed in blood by the founding houses of the Empire and subsequently signed by each succeeding Emperox. * During the Sector Rediscovery House Vela found some Houses that they really didn't want to put on the map again. And so they didn't. The TRUE MAP is stored in the Secret Library. * The original Al-Tesh Treaty. * The Library has knowledge collected from all areas of humankind as well as original and translated alien manuscripts. These alien manuscripts are made prohibitively hard to reach because of the distance to get to them. * The body of Arhat Mercury. * It includes information House Vela deemed too dangerous for hands of dangerous entities such as House Serpens and House Triangulum. Documents about artificial humans, psionics and the Guild are stored within the Library. * The Ark of the Covenant. * Blueprints to Jump-gates some wonder if it is worth keeping this hidden as it would improve the sector. However it would also cause Vela to lose most of its income. Category:House Vela Category:The Velan Ascendancy Category:Secrets Category:Rumors